Audio CD starts with loud buzz, then OK except track change time

[DickN]

I record church services on my laptop and edit them for CD and podcast. Using HP laptop running XP, I had been using Sonic with no problems except Sonic adds 2 sec pre-gaps even if they're turned off. Getting metadata into WMA files is an extra step with my tool set, but not so with FLAC. I'd been using ImgBurn on the tower computer (Vista system), so I put it on the laptop so I could burn from FLAC files. I'm using the same blank disks I've been using all along with Sonic.

 

Problem is: Most (but not all) attempts to burn a CD result in a few seconds of loud buzz (if I rip it and view the waveform in Audacity it looks like a string of bipolar trianglar pips), followed by normal audio until the last track, which is missing a few seconds at the end. The track counter and CD Text are offset a few seconds from the audio playback. It's as if the buzz were prefixed to Track 1 but the time for Track 1 was not extended in the TOC, and then that interval was dropped off the end of the last track. At the end of the burn, the CD burner just stops writing with Device Buffer full, BUFFER empty, disk spinning, and the PC partially hung. I suspect from this that the "few seconds" I keep mentioning are the length of the Device Buffer. Log is not saved. I can copy/paste the log from screen to Notepad, but can't save the file. If I try to stop ImgBurn via the square button, nothing happens. If I try it again, ImgBurn says "I heard you the first time". If I try to close it with the X button, all that stops is the GUI. Task Manager says it's still running, and I can't kill it. I can't even reboot except via the power switch.

 

If I try in Test Mode, all's well every time. In both Test and (normal) modes, Device Buffer, which bobbles around 99-100% otherwise, drops to 5% just before each step speed change, which doesn't happen on the tower. Buffer, however, stays at 99-100% until the end. There aren't any glitches in the bulk of the recording, so I don't think this is part of the problem.

 

Actually writing resulted in a hang but Test Mode didn't. Unless the drive reads what's written when not in Test Mode, why would this be? I tried enabling OPC. It made no difference.

 

I've attached 2 log files. TestMode.txt is a log of two Test Mode "burns" with different blank CD's. The second "burn" is with the same type as in the other log file, FailedWrite.txt. The latter I copied manually from the screen and typed into a text editor. It contains some additional information which I copied from the screen.

 

I would appreciate any help with this, since the unwanted pre-gaps I get with Sonic are very annoying in a live recording (reminiscent of 8-tracks!) but until this is resolved we have to live with them or else I have to tell people to wait until next Sunday while I burn their CD's at home on the tower.

 

Unrelated question: "Disk ID" in the log has format <ii>m<jj>s<kk>f. Is that somehow related to min:sec:frames? That would imply 97+ minutes, and it's the same for 2 separate disks which is surprising for something with "ID" in the name. Media Capacity in Sectors looks more like 2.08 sec short of 80 minutes, assuming 1 sector = 1 CDDA frame.

TestMode.txt

FailedWrite.txt

[DickN]

Still me, so this is an update rather than a reply (no replies after 4 months?!?):

 

I found that if I save the project folder (.flac files and a .cue file) to a thumb drive and then open the .cue file in the thumb drive the CD gets burned properly every time.  Why this would make any difference is beyond me, since ImgBurn apparently expands the .flac files into RAM first anyway, but this is what I'm seeing.

 

After a couple months of this as my Standard Operating Procedure, I took a few items off the startup list in Windows.  One of them was LSBURNWATCH.EXE (I've never used Light Scribe and have never even seen the media for sale).  I don't know whether this is what made the difference, but now I've burned 4 audio CD's from the hard drive with no problems.  The problem was so persistent before that I'd have been very unlikely to have 4 consecutive successes with 4 different projects.

 

Guess I'd have to re-enable LSBURNWATCH.EXE in Startup to find out for sure if this is what makes the difference.  I'll try this if anyone is interested, but as for myself I'm content to just let a working system stay that way.

[LIGHTNING UK!]

Sorry for not replying to this, it must have been when I was away on holiday.

 

I'm glad you've finally got a working system - even if you're not really sure why it now works